I'm so excited to have MV Freeman visiting with me today. She is a good friend but also an amazing author. Her latest book's cover is smoking, literally and I can't wait to share it with you! MV is giving away some tea to one lucky commentator.

Hello Melissa, I am very happy to be here! I am going to dive right and answer your questions. What television sitcom is most like your family? Why? The Middle—this reflects the irreverence, humor and frustrations so well for our family. What’s your favorite thing to do to relax? Cook, workout, read. I’m very much an introvert. I also enjoy a good movie with my family. They center me.

If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to yourself? I would tell myself to apply myself more—and fight for it. That life does get better. We forget what we were like at that age. But even now, I don’t think I would’ve listened. I’d rather have spoken to my 12-13 yr old self. Ah..what could’ve been.

For what are you grateful? I am grateful for many things. I thank God for my health, family, food on my table, roof over my head and where I live. And most of all for I am grateful for my imagination. I have learned that gratefulness keeps me in perpespective of what truly is important.

Now about you as an author...What authors had an impact on you growing up and as an adult? As a kid the authors that moved me were: Anne MacCaffrey, J.R.R. Tolkien, Madeline L’engle, Susan Cooper, and S.E. Hinton. Hmm. There is a pattern here. That is why one of the genre’s I write is YA. As an adult, I like Ilona Andrews, Anne Stuart, Karen Marie Moning, Garth Nix, Stephanie Myers, Moriah Densley, Kelley Armstrong, Scott Westerfeld, Jeanine Frost, and Janet Lee Carey. (I could go on and on…there are so many).

What is your favorite aspect or writing? Your least favorite? My favorite aspect—is world building and creating. This is called the “Shiney” by some of my friends. It’s new, fresh and exciting. I adore creating. What I am NOT a fan of is the business side. It eats into my writing time and that frustrates me. What aspect of writing would you most like to improve on? Dialogue and Dialogue tags. I have to fight for it, it is one of the most painful things for me, but when it works it makes it the story so much smoother.Do you have any“must haves” with you while you’re writing? Coffee, Tea, and music when I am going into first draft. But when I am revising and refining—I need silence. Do you have a common theme or item that appears in each of your books? I like beauty and the beast stories, or ones with redemption. My stories no matter in what genre will always deal with decisions, boundaries and learning to take responsibility. I didn’t plan on it this way—they just seem to come out.

What have you learned the most from being in the writing business? That it is a tough and brutal business. You have to learn to roll with the punches. Most importantly—it is all up to me. I have to set the time to write. I have to be open to learning. Even when I get rejections—I have to be confident enough with my own writing to keep sending it out there. (I admit—its tough, but chocolate helps). And finally—that there are some truly AMAZING people out there.

Tell us about your latest release:

INCANDESCENT: Somegifts are unwanted, and Laurie’s Hudson’s affinity for fire is one she hates.It has destroyed her relationship with her family and she has few friends.

She’s fought hard to keep the fire inside suppressed, living a low key life as a bartender, until a brutal and charming man blows into her life.

Around Mikhail Petrov, her careful control disintegrates. She is at once drawn to his urbane, cool demeanor and irritated by his overbearing manner. Her options are taken away when he kidnaps her, forcing her into a fight she wants nothing to do with.

As she learns to survive, Laurie faces the hardest choice of all, her freedom or the destruction of the frustrating man she’s come to care for.How did you decide on your story plot? Oh that is a wickedly hard—but I was inspired by the movie “Eastern Promises”. I Liked the idea of a society that lives on the fringes, that functions out of sight of most people but does have a great impact. So I applied it to my story. I also admit, my favorite actor had a large role in it: Viggo Mortensen.

Thanks for inviting me to be on your blog—I have had a lot of fun. For one lucky commentator I will give away some tea.

Author Bio: M.V. Freeman is a native of Minnesota, but calls North Alabama her home. She is a member of RWA, and thechapters: Georgia Romance Writers, Southern Magic, and Heart of Dixie. By day her mind is filled with medical jargon at the local health clinic, but at night she finds herself exploring alternate worlds within our own. Heavily influenced by Slavic languages and culture, you will find she weaves these elements into her stories. Her award winning current story INCANDESCENT is the first in a series. She is currently working on the second book in the series while plotting another series. When she is not writing, she's reading, cooking, throwing around kettle bells, or making coffee. www.mvfreeman.comwww.crimsonromance.comtwitter @MVFreeThank you MV for stopping by! Didn't I say her cover was sizzling! :) Make sure you comment!